The welcome drink not including alcoholic drinks is very odd indeed, but they gave me a bottle of sparking wine as welcome gift in the room so I did not complain and I thought it was easy to overlook. My suite (Diamond upgrade) was very nice, perhaps not as nice as Conrad but it was a much closer contest than I expected. So personally I felt this property was worthy of the Fairmont brand, unlike my original apprehension.

I also note that none of the somewhat negative reviews above mention anything about breakfast, which happens to be a very strong point of the hotel. As good as breakfast at Conrad is, Fairmont was even better. At Fairmont they had lobster claws one morning, teriyaki salmon on another day, various kinds of shrimps every day, and Peking duck. If another hotel in Seoul has as good of a breakfast at Fairmont, I am curious to hear which one.